. /.   WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  G/SPS/N/HKG/24 
1 May 2007 
 (07-1778) 
Committee on Sanitary a nd Phytosanitary Measures Original:   English 
  
 
 
NOTIFICATION 
 
1. Member to Agreement notifying:  HONG KONG, CHINA
 
If applicable, name of local government involved:   
2. Agency responsible:  Food and Environmental Hygiene Department (FEHD), the 
Government of the Hong Kong Sp ecial Administrative Region 
3. Products covered (provide tariff item number(s) as specified in national schedules 
deposited with the WTO; ICS numbers should be provided in addition, where 
applicable):   Poultry eggs in shell for human consumption  
4. Regions or countries likely to be affected , to the extent relevant or practicable:  
Countries/places exporting poultry eggs in she ll for human consumption to Hong Kong, 
China 
5. Title, language and number of pages of the notified document:  Proposed Amendments 
to the Imported Game, Meat and Poultry Regul ations (available in English, 2 pages) 
6. Description of content:  To amend the Imported Game, Meat and Poultry Regulations by: 
(a) requiring import permit/licence and health certificate for poultry eggs imported for 
human consumption;  and 
(b) requiring poultry egg importers to register with FEHD 
7. Objective and rationale: [ X ] food safety,  [   ] animal health,  [   ] plant protection, 
[ X ] protect humans from animal/plant pest or disease, [   ] protect territory from other damage from pests   
8. International standard, guideline or recommendation: 
[   ] Codex Alimentarius Commission,  [ X ] World Organization for Animal Health 
(OIE), [   ] International Plant Protection Convention,  [   ] None 
If an international standard, guideline or recommendation exists, give the appropriate 
reference and briefly identify deviations:  Owing to spread of avian influenza in Asia and 
many other parts of the world, it is considered necessary to enact legislation to regulate imported poultry eggs to safeguard public health.  According to the World Health 
Organisation (WHO), eggs from infected poultry could be contaminated with the virus and 
therefore care should be taken in handling sh ell eggs.  The World Organisation for Animal 
Health (OIE) has, in its revised guidelines on the control of eggs for human consumption, 
recommended that a health certificate with certain conditions accepted by the authority 
should accompany the import of poultry e ggs for control of avian influenza. G/SPS/N/HKG/24 
Page 2  
 
  9. Relevant documents and language(s) in which these are available:  Proposed 
Amendments to the Imported Game, Meat and Poultry Regulations (available in English) 
10. Proposed date of adoption:  To be notified. 
11. Proposed date of entry into force:  To be notified. 
12. Final date for comments:  60 days from issue date 
Agency or authority designated to handle comments:  [   ] National notification 
authority, [ X ] National enquiry point, or address, fax number and E-mail address (if 
available) of other body:   
Trade and Industry Department 
The Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region 
17/F, Trade and Industry Department Tower 
700 Nathan Road Hong Kong Tel:  +(852) 2398 5398 Fax:  +(852) 2789 2491 
E-mail:  mdiv1@tid.gov.hk  
13. Texts available from:  [   ] National notification authority, [ X ] National enquiry point, 
or address, fax number and E-mail address (if available) of other body:  See box 12